Griffins take out Texas Stars thanks to three-goal third period

The Grand Rapids Griffins had a relatively bumpy 40 minutes of hockey against the Texas Stars on Saturday, dropping a 1-0 lead and remaining down by a 2-1 tally from the ten-minute mark of the first period to the 6:41 mark of the third period...when Jan Mursak ignited a 3-goal outburst which propelled the Griffins to a 3-1 victory. The Texas Stars' website relates the game's details...

December 19, TexasStarsHockey.com: In the
first period, the Griffins took a 1-0 lead after winger Jeremy Williams
scored his 14th goal of the year at 8:23. Veteran forward Michael
Nylander set up the play with a drop pass to the right-wing circle,
springing Williams for a scoring chance. The Griffins right wing fired
a wristshot past Texas goalie Matt Climie, beating him on the glove
side. Texas countered during the power play at 10:31 when defenseman
Andrew Hutchinson scored from the point, tying the game 1-1. The
power-play goal was the defenseman’s second goal of the season. Stars
defenseman Brad Lukowich scored the team’s second power-play goal of
the night, scoring with 3:30 left in the period. Lukowich fired a shot
from the left point, sneaking the puck by Griffins goalie Daniel
Larsson for the 2-1 lead. Forwards Aaron Gagnon and Greg Rallo tallied
assists on both power-play goals.

After a scoreless second period, the Griffins scored twice in 48
seconds to take a 3-2 lead. Right wing Jan Mursak scored his 11th goal
of the season off a rebound at 6:41, tying the game 2-2. Less than a
minute later, left wing Mattias Ritola scored the Griffins’ third goal
of the night at 7:29. Ritola tipped a Travis Ehrhardt shot past Climie
for his seventh goal of the season and a 3-2 Grand Rapids lead. The
Griffins ended the scoring at 19:40, as Jon Vigilante slid in an
empty-netter with 20 seconds left in the game.

The Griffins' website's recap recounts a slightly different version of events:

December 19, Griffinshockey.com: For the seventh time in their last eight games, the Griffins took a
1-0 lead in the opening frame. Once again, it was Jeremy Williams who
continued the late trend when he tucked a wrist shot under the cross
bar at the 8:23 mark.

Texas was quick to answer with a couple of power play goals, the
first of which came at 10:21 when Andrew Hutchinson netted a wrist shot
from the top of the right circle. Then, Brad Lukowich took a pass from
former Griffin Aaron Gagnon and scored with a shot from the point at
16:30, putting the Stars ahead 2-1.

The Stars preserved their lead through the second period, when their
stifling defense held the Griffins to just four shots in the stanza. In the third period, Grand Rapids recaptured their lead by scoring
two goals in a span of 48 seconds. At 6:41, Patrick Rissmiller took a
shot from the right circle, and its rebound kicked out to Jan Mursak on
the opposite side of the net where he flipped a backhand shot into the
gaping net. Then Michael Nylander tipped in Travis Ehrhardt’s shot from the point at 7:29, giving the Griffins a 3-2 lead.

In the final minute of regulation, Daniel Larsson made a flurry of
saves before John Vigilante charged down the ice for an empty net goal,
finalizing the score sheet at 4-2. Larsson turned aside 20 shots in the win for Grand Rapids, while Matt Climie made 16 saves for the Stars.

In the alumni department, former Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios scored a goal and added an assist in the Chicago Wolves' 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Admirals, and Red Wings prospect Jordan Pearce sat out the Toledo Walleye's 5-2 win over the Johnstown Chiefs. Pearce has played in 14 of the Walleye's 30 games, posting a 6-6-and-1 record, but he sports a 3.82 goals-against average and has stopped 88.1% of the shots he's faced, which ain't pretty.